Uruguay unites behind Luis Suárez after 'excessive, absurd' ban

"Exaggerated, absurd and out of place." That was the verdict of Uruguay's national director of sport as Luis Suárez's eight-game ban became a matter of state. Players, coaches, media and the government have come out in support of the Liverpool striker, while the national football federation has offered legal backing through the Uruguayan embassy in London. The striker Sebastián Abreu insisted that Suárez has "3 million Uruguayans behind him" and the former international Richard Morales, who is black, insisted: "[Patrice] Evra should not play at being Padre Popelka." Father Ernesto Popelka is a revered former footballer, priest and psychologist.